Hand heat sealer



June 26, 1956 H. F. TECHTMANN 2,751,966

HAND HEAT SEALER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 18, 1952 3 n v en tor HEefQI-F. ECHT/WW M my@ Cttornegs June 26, 1956 H. F. TECHTMANN 2,751,966

HAND HEAT SEALER Filed Dec. 18, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 :inventor /v/Eefez-.F @Hr/mw# Gttomcg United States Patent HAND HEAT SEALER Herbert F. Techtmann, Milwaukee, Wis., assigner to Techtmann Industries, Milwaukee, Wis., a partnership Application December 18, 1952, Serial No. 326,677 11 Claims. (Cl. 154-42) This invention relates to a hand heat sealer.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a light weight and compact heat sealing device which may be manipulated by the operator with one hand. The device is of the type commonly used to apply localized heat and pressure to adhesively join paper or cellulosic sheets such as cellophane and Pliofilm. The hand device hereinafter disclosed has particular application to the sealV ing of wrapping material after the wrap has enveloped a wrapped object, which, because of its bulk or other reason, cannot conveniently be sealed on a stationary heat sealer such as the one described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 83,487, tiled March 25, 1949, and entitled Rotary Heat Sealers, now U. S. Patent No. 2,697,473.

In this connection it is an object of the invention to provide an unusually compact hand heat sealer having an internally hollow frame and internal heating elements mounted on the frame and arranged so as to be conveniently connected to an electrical cord received into the frame through a frame handle. In the present invention the particular ribbed and grooved rolls and form and organization of the heating elements result in a superior and eifective hand machine. The sealer hereinafter described is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and is particularly adapted for easy manipulation while in use.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to one skilled in the art upon an examination of the following disclosure.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hand heat sealer embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the hand heat sealer, the heating elements and sealing rolls being exposed. This view also shows an auxiliary handle positioned for use.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along the broken line 3 3 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 4 is a plan view ofthe inverted heat sealer, portions of the sealing roller and the frame being broken away, and portions of the frame being shown in section to expose details of construction.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the heat sealer, portions of the frame and frame skirt being broken away and. shown in section to expose details of construction.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional View taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detailed view in horizontal section showing a modied mounting for one of the heat sealing bars.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detailed view showing in end elevation portions of modied crimping rolls.

The heat sealing apparatus comprises an open bottomed inwardly hollow frame having a deck portion 10 and a depending marginal skirt 11 dening the hollow or cavity within which parallel heating bars 12 are positioned at either side of the longitudinal axis of the device along which the localized zones of adhesive material are to be passed. The heating bars 12 are internally pro- 2,751,966 Patented June Z6, 1956 rice 2 vided with electrical heating elements 13. The heating bars 12 and 12a are desirably mounted to opposite llanges of the skirt 11 of frame 10 by means of side bolts 14 which are reciprocable through bosses 16 and threaded into the bars. The heating bar 12 is laterally adjustable respecting its flange by reason of a number of thin washers or shims 15 which are disposed between bar 12 and the internal skirt bosses 16 against which the bar is seated.

The other bar (or both of them) may be made relatively yieldable against spring pressure by mounting one or both in the manner of bar 12a. The headless bolts or rods 14 threaded into bar 12a are freely reciprocable through the bosses 16a. There is no limit to the inward movement of the bar 12a except contact of said bar with Ixed bar 12. A compression spring 9 encircles each rod or bolt 14 and is' coniined between each boss 16a and the bar 12a, thereby yieldably urging bar 12a toward bar 12.

Fig. 7 shows the bar 12a with a xed mounting, springs 9 being omitted.

At the outer end of the frame, and at opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the device, are mounted cooperating pressure rollers 19 and 2t) having interacting ribs and channels 191 and 261.

Desirably the channels are suiliciently larger than the ribs to provide clearance between the channel wall and the rib surface for the material acted on in the sealing operation. Such clearance is illustrated at 202.

Roller 19 is journaled on its fixed axle shaft 21 which is supported in a tubular bearing boss 22 connected to the underside of frame deck 10. Roller 20 is mounted to be laterally movable toward and away from roller 19. For this purpose roller 20 has a ball bearing mounting 25 (Fig. 3) on its axle supporting a swingable arm 26 which is pivoted on a threaded pin 27 which mounts the arm to the underside of frame decl; 10. Roller 2G is biased toward peripheral line contact with roller 19 by a spring 28. This spring seats at one end against arm 26 and at its other end in a socketed thumb screw 30 (Fig. 4) which is adjustable in its threaded connection with a tapped bore 31 in skirt 11 to Vary the bias of spring 28. The sealing pressure is thus adjusted.

Fig. 8 shows the use of cylindrical rolls at 199 and 200.

The rollers 19 and 2) make peripheral contact on the longitudinal axis of the sealer whereby to receive contiguous end plies which are heated as the sheet material travels between the heating bars. Rollers 19 and 20 are normally unheated and serve to press the heated plies of the sheet material together whereby to etect a crimped seal thereof.

The skirt 11 is further provided with inlet and outlet apertures 32 and 33 respectively, these apertures being generally aligned on the longitudinal axis of the sealer to give access to the bars and rolls.

The frame deck 10 is apertured at 38 and 39, on a line transverse to the longitudinal axis of the sealer, to receive electrical wiring connected to the heating element 13. The transverse alignment of the apertures places them in proximity to the laterally spaced heating elements 13. Aperture 33 is also in proximity to thermostatic control 36, which, with its adjusting shaft 37, is mounted on one of the heating bars 12'..

Wiring, which is indicated generally as 40, is brought into the frame through the hollow interior of a handle structure which includes a base plate 41. The base plate 41 fits over the portion of the frame deck 10 including apertures 38 and 39 and is bolted thereto by the bolts 42. Upstanding from the base plate 41 is a column 43 having a handle supporting tube 44 at a right angle to the column and to which an axially bored insulating handle 45 is rigidly connected. Column 43 is of less lateral extent than the plate 41 and is laterally braced by ribs 48 which are formed on the upper side of base plate 41 and connect with both sides of the column 43. The ribs 4S are internally hollow or channeled to comprise passages 49 which register with the apertures 3S and 39 in frame deck 10 and connect the apertures with an internal upright passageway Sti in the column 43. Y

The respective connecting passageways provide ducts for distributing the wiring 46 through handle 45, column 43,V ribs 4S, and apertures 3e and 39 to proper connection with the heating elements 13 and the thermostat 36.

The handle structure further comprises a separate chamber 51 which houses a neon glow tube 5;?. or the like which is mounted on a plate 53 which closes the chamber 51. Column 43 is apcrtured at 54 to provide for communication between passage 5'@ and chamber Si to admit portions of the wiring 4t) to the glow tube 52 as illustrated.

In the preferred embodimentof the invention the handle structure comprising the column 43, base plate 41, and the intermediate internally channeled ribs is cast or molded in a single piece, either of metal or plastic. Assembly of the sealer, accordingly, is simplified as only a few parts need be mated.

As best shown in Fig. 2 a removable auxiliary handle 57 may be coupled to the frame skirt 11 of the sealer by means of projecting stud and wing nut assemblies 5%. When the auxiliary handle 57 is thus attached the sealer may be manipulated in side position to facilitate sealing plies of sheet material not otherwise conveniently accessible. During repeated operations where the sealer is best used in upright position, the auxiliary handle may be completely removed.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is evident that a compact easily assembled and easily manipulated hand heat sealer has been provided. In particular the construction of the handle, with its communicating wiring passages, and the orientation of the handle structure to the frame, contributes to the compact assembly and improved device.

I claim:

1. In a hand heat sealer comprising a handle structure and a frame supported thereby, said frame having an internal cavity and a skirt defining said cavity, a pair of opposed electrical heating elements within said cavity and mounted to said skirt at opposite sides of the cavity to act on work moving through said cavity, and means yieldably supporting at least one of said elements from the frame, said frame being provided with wiring apertures proximate the heating elements, said handle structure having an internal passageway communicating with said apertures, said handle structure passageway comprising a main passage and laterally extending branch passages leading from said main passage to said apertures.

2. The device of claim l in further combination with complementary ribbed and channeled crimping rolls mounted in said frame in the path of such work as it issues from between said elements.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said handle comprises a molded structure having internal passagesways comprising said main and said branch passages, said branch passages being formed as internally hollow external ribs on said handle structure whereby to laterally brace the handle in its connection with the frame.

4. A light weight portable heat sealer comprising an elongated housing with a downwardly opening cavity and work inlet and outlet portals opening to and from said cavity at the ends of the housing, opposed workengaging heating bars provided with heating elementsv and extending within said cavity from the inlet portal toward the outlet portal to act on work over which said housing is manipulated, handle means on the housing upon which the sealer is wholly dependent for support and guidance, and rolls having mating peripheral crimping ribs and channels and disposed between the bars and the outlet portal for acting on heated work, said channels being larger in cross section than the ribs to provide work accommodating clearance therebetween even when the ribs are fully seated in said channels.

5. The device of claim 4 in which at least one of said rolls is provided with a mounting upon which it is bodily yieldable, and a spring is seated against said housing and actsV on said mounting to urge said last mentioned roll in the direction of the other said roll.

6. The device of claim 5 in which the yieldable roll mounting comprises an arm having a stud upon which said roll is mounted and having a pivotal connection with said housing at a point remote from said stud, said spring acting on said arm between its said pivotal connection and said stud.

7. The device of claim 4 in further combination with a second handle projecting laterally from said housing to facilitate the support and manipulation of the housing in other than upright positions.

8. The device of claim 4 in which the housing comprises a lateral skirt portion having longitudinally spaced bosses projecting into the cavity, together with means passing through said bosses and threaded into one of said bars for the support thereof.

9. The device of claim 8 in which the supporting means comprises rods encircled by compression springs confined between the respective bosses and the bar into which said rods are threaded whereby to urge said bar inwardly from said skirt portion.

10. A light weight portable heat sealer comprising an elongated frame with lateral skirts spaced at the ends of the frame to provide a shallow downwardly opening cavity having inlet and outlet portals at the ends of the frame, a handle connected with the top of the frame for the support and guidance thereof, heating bars provided with heating elements and extending longitudinally of the cavity between said skirts and aligned with the inlet portal to receive work admitted therethrough, at least one of said bars being mounted for adjustment laterally receiving the other and a set of crimping rolls mounted within the cavity adjacent the outlet portal in alignment with said bars to receive and act upon work which has been heated in passing between the bars, at

` least one of said rolls being provided with a mounting upon which it is yieldable respecting the other roll and a spring acting upon said mounting and urging the yieldable roll toward the other roll, one of said rolls having peripheral channels and the one having complementary mating ribs of sutliciently smaller radius to provide substantially uniform clearance between said ribs and the channeled surface of the other roll even when said ribs are fully seated in said channels.

11. In a heat sealer, the combination of paired crimping rolls, said rolls respectively having surfaces provided with peripheral ribs and peripheral channels, means for mounting one of the rolls for movement to and from the other, means for biasing the said movable roll yieldably toward the other, the ribs normally engaging the bottom of the channels and the channels in said channeled surface being wider in cross section than thel ribs thereby to provide work accommodating clearance therebetween even when the ribs are seated to their full extent in said channels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 775,541 McConnell Nov. 22, 1904 813,279 Clare Feb. 20, 1906 1,667,292 Lorenz Apr. 24, 1928 2,376,253 Humphrey May l5, 1945 2,385,583 McLauchlau Sept. 25, 1945 2,542,900 Chaffee Feb. 20, 1951 2,542,901 Chaffee Feb. 20, 1951 2,597,634 Grevich May 20, 1952 2,658,552 Grevich Nov. 10, 1953 

